If you ever get stumped on what to make for dinner and are in a crunch for time, fret no more! I have a solution for you! I present to you Spring Couscous--a vegan recipe for people who enjoy entertaining their taste buds.
If you don't know what couscous is here is a quick 411 for you: couscous is small size grains made out of semolina wheat and coated with wheat flour [so if you don't tolerate gluten, this dish is NOT for you].
Being that the grains are so tiny, they cook through very quickly. After one minute of boiling grain can be removed from heat and will cook to perfection in only 10 minutes. That's it!
So, without further delay here is the recipe for...
Spring Couscous
will feed 6-8 people
- 10 springs of green onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 2-3 tbs olive oil
- 4 cups couscous grain
- 6 cups water
- 4 tbs cumin
- 1.5 tbs sea or Himalayan salt [or to taste]
- 8 Roma tomatoes, chopped into small squares
- 1/2-1 cups chopped dill
Preparation
- saute green onions in oil for about 1-2 minutes on medium heat
- add garlic, saute for another 30 seconds
- add cumin, salt, couscous and water
- bring to boil on high heat, stirring
- reduce heat and boil for 1 min, stirring
- take off heat, and cover for 10 mins
- meanwhile chop tomatoes and dill
- after 10 mins mix in tomatoes and dill and serve!
I like serving my Couscous with a very simple tomato salad.
- chopped tomatoes
- little bit of chopped white or green onions
- salt
- dressed with Veganaise mayo or a tbs of olive oil
Another favorite summer dish/dip I have is hummus. It can be used as a spread,; instead of sour cream in making veggie rolls [spread on large leaf of lettuce and add chopped veggies; roll and enjoy]; or as a dipping "sauce" for freshly cut veggies--my hubby's favorite way to eat it.
I am going to give you a very basic recipe for hummus--you can build on it from there.
Vegan Hummus
Ingredients
- 5 cups cooked chickpeas [garbanzo beans]
- 1 cup tahini paste
- 3-3.5 cups water, depending on how thick you want your mixture to be--I used 3 cups in this recipe, but could have comfortably added another .5 cup [you can use water beans were cooked in]
- juice of 1 1/2-2 lemons
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 2 1/4 tbs salt or to taste
Preparation
- I cook my own chickpeas. To do that I soak them in water overnight or for a few hours. Drain, rinse and boil in water [so they are submerged/covered in water]. Cook for 1 hr or until soft.
- pour into a high speed blender, such as VitaMix 5200 or Blendtec Total Blender
[I used VitaMix, since it has a very handy temper that I used to push the ingredients down with]
- add remaining ingredients
- Blend until smooth [be careful not to burn your blender's motor!]
- refrigerate and INDULGE! ;)
To get your Hummus a bit more sophisticated feel free do dress it up: add your favorite seasoning; add cumin or roasted red bell pepper; if you like it spicy add a chili pepper or whatever else you might fancy. Let your imagination take you places.
I hope you enjoy this wondrous duo. If you make these recipes, please stop by and let me know how you liked them. I really hope to hear back on these two ;)
Live a prosperous, healthful life!
